'Newton is a commercial film'

..says the director Amit Masukar, talking about the recognition of the film at the National Awards

Published: 14th April 2018

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Newton which received the Best Hindi Film honour at the 65th National Film Awards, is actually a commercial film as people connected with it says director Amit Masurkar.

Masurkar made the comment while interacting with the media yesterday along with actor Krishna Singh Bisht, Newton co-writer Mayank Tiwari and music composer Naren Chandavarkar.

When asked whether he was open to doing typical commercial masala films as Newton was considered an offbeat or art house film, Masurkar said, "It all depends on the script. If such kind of script comes my way then why not? But I believe that Newton is a commercial film. Commercial films are those which people watch it in theatres. So I would say that Newton was a commercial film because people did go and see the film in the theatres and they connected with it."

Sharing his views further on masala and commercial films, the director said, "I don't know about the word 'masala', as that terminology keeps changing with time. What you call masala films in the 1980s are not the same as the ones in the 1990s. So if you see the kind of progress we are witnessing in films, it is also changing the definition of commercial. I think if you make a good film then it automatically becomes commercial."

Newton was also selected as India's official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Oscars 2018, but did not make it to the final shortlist. Regarding the Oscars, Masurkar said, "In the Oscar awards, countries from all over the world send their best film, so there is a tough competition. We gave our best but we were not able to win there, but we are happy that we reached that platform."

On Newton's lead actor Rajkummar Rao not winning an award on Friday, the director said, "I definitely think Rajkummar Rao should have been awarded. He did a brilliant job not just in Newton but also in other films like Trapped and Bareilly Ki Barfi. He did a lot of good work last year."

Notably, Pankaj Tripathi also won a Special Mention at the 65th National Film Awards for his performance in Newton.

Produced by Manish Mundra, Newton revolves around a young government clerk, who is sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town. It portrays how the ideological struggle puts him in an awkward situation.